Sean Kelly of Marks O’Neill’s New Jersey office scored a victory in obtaining summary judgment on behalf of a medical billing company in a putative class action.  On behalf of the Class, Plaintiff claimed that our client’s written communications violated the FDCPA by inclusion of a code that was visible on the outside of its envelope.  We argued that discovery demonstrated that the Plaintiff lacked standing, having suffered no concrete or actionable harm under the Supreme Court’s decision in Spokeo.  We were also able to distinguish our client’s code from other markings that the Third Circuit found to violate the FDCPA.  The District Court granted summary judgment, dismissing all claims. 

Sean Kelly of Marks O’Neill’s New Jersey office obtained a dismissal of all claims of legal malpractice against our clients arising from underlying complex commercial litigation. Our clients represented a corporation in various pieces of litigation stemming from a failed commercial property development. Plaintiffs alleged damages in excess of $50 million dollars. We successfully argued that Plaintiff was not able to allege the necessary causal relationship between our client’s representation and its alleged damages. The District Court agreed and dismissed the Complaint.

Marks O’Neill’s New Jersey office was also successful in obtaining dismissal of legal malpractice claims arising from the handling of Plaintiff’s dental malpractice claims. We filed a Motion to Dismiss arguing that Plaintiff failed to set forth sufficient facts to establish that our client formally undertook the representation, but instead merely consulted with the  Plaintiff. The trial court agreed that there existed no viable claim of legal malpractice and dismissed the claims.

Daniel Bentz, managing partner of Marks O’Neill’s Pittsburgh office, was successful in obtaining a defense verdict on behalf of a professional client in a premises liability case filed in Beaver County, PA. The Plaintiff alleged that when he arrived at the parking lot, in the evening, the outdoor lights were not functioning and the parking lot was too dark to see a singular patch of ice that was between him and the entrance to the building. The Plaintiff, who was ambulating on crutches at the time, alleged that his crutch slipped on the ice causing him to fall and aggravate his surgically repaired ankle. Among the damages sought were, pain and suffering from two subsequent revision surgeries, loss of income, loss of business income, loss of future income, and other non-economic damages. After three days of trial, the jury found that the Plaintiff was more than 51% negligent in causing his injury and harm. Therefore, pursuant to Pennsylvania’s Comparative Negligence law, the Plaintiff was barred from recovering any amount in damages from our client.     

Daniel Bentz of Marks O’Neill’s Pittsburgh office was successful in obtaining a grant of their Motion for Summary Judgment on behalf of their client in a professional liability matter filed in the Court of Common Pleas of Washington County, PA.  The Plaintiff made claims of fraudulent misrepresentation under the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law against the client, a real estate agent, for failure to disclose alleged previously-existing defects in the home prior to closing.  After obtaining favorable testimony through discovery, the Court agreed there was no evidence to suggest that the real estate agent had any knowledge of the defects, or was reckless as to her lack of knowledge as to the condition of the home and accordingly dismissed our client from the case.